The present invention relates to a method of producing powder of lithium zirconate (Li.sub.2 ZrO.sub.3) useful as an intermediate for producing sintered articles etc. of lithium zirconate, which are the most promising candidates for the tritium breeding materials used for the blanket of a nuclear fusion reactor.
A method of producing the powder to make the sintered article of lithium zirconate is known, wherein a solid-phase reaction as shown by the following equation is performed through a temporary burning of the mixture of lithium carbonate and zirconium oxide. EQU Li.sub.2 CO.sub.3 +ZrO.sub.2 .fwdarw.Li.sub.2 ZrO.sub.3 +CO.sub.2 .uparw.
With this method, however, it is difficult to obtain a homogeneous powder since the reaction tends to become nonuniform. The inhomogeneous powder is poor in sinterability, making it difficult to obtain a high-quality sintered article.
On the other hand, as a means to produce homogeneous and fine-particulate powder, it is known to burn a gel obtainable by the sol-gel method or the coprecipitation method. However, is well known, it is very difficult to allow the lithium compounds to precipitate as the gels.